Eugene undoubtedly has no shortage of unique clothing
boutiques, selling everything from high-priced designer garments
to slightly used retro and vintage
attire. But in a college town where students’ styles range from hippie to ultra-trendy, it never hurts to have another charming shop offering
different looks for cheap prices.
Smashin’ Fashion, Eugene’s newest retro clothing store, opened in early December on 13th Avenue between Willamette and Oak streets. This quaint shop offers everything from Tommy Hiliger dress shirts for just $12 to classic Converse shoes for around $20.
But Smashin’ Fashion doesn’t stop at clothing. The shop brings in popular styles of jewelry, inexpensive magnets displaying classic
Hollywood icons such as Jean
Harlow and Marilyn Monroe, vintage purses and other accessories such as designer sunglasses and even a Budweiser bandana.
Cosmo Mullins and Lori Cates, the owners of Smashin’ Fashion, hail from the San Francisco area, where they had a business selling clothing at festivals and shows. Their partnership goes back fifteen years and their love for selling vintage clothing stems back almost as far.
“We’ve had a lot of history with clothing and fashion,” Cates said. “We’ve seen a lot of the cutting-edge styles down in the Bay area.”
Cates and Mullins brought a bit
of the Bay flavor to Eugene because of their love for the town they now call home.
“We’ve always loved Eugene,” Mullins said. “We’ve been coming here for about 15 years and we love it. We finally got the chance to move here.”
“We have a lot of city in our hearts, but we love Eugene,” Cates said. “We’ve always loved it here and have wanted to move here for a long time. We just recently had a baby, so we had to get her to a better place and the first place that popped into our minds was Oregon.”
And Eugene seems to be the
perfect place for their shop to call home as well.
“The response has been going good. We’ve already had to go back (to San Francisco) and get more clothes,” Mullins said. “We’ve been very well received here.”
Smashin’ Fashion has also begun selling music, recently adding vinyl albums to their stock of CDs on a table in the middle of the store.
“We sell everything from rock-and-roll to disco to punk to hip-hop,” Cates said. “We have a good variety coming straight out of the Bay area.”
Smashin’ Fashion’s collection
of clothing offers an assortment
of styles. An old bowling shirt
covered in patches and baring the name “Frankie” can be found near Fonzie-type leather jackets, and
Dr. Martin and Puma shoes sit next to cowboy boots.
“We purchase our clothes from a company in San Francisco that
buys clothes from a whole bunch of different shops and boutiques in that area,” Mullins said.
The future of this shop looks bright, and Cates and Mullins have set goals for Smashin’ Fashion.
“We want to open in several
locations,” Cates said.
“And we want to make sure our little girl doesn’t have to get a job for anyone else when she grows up,” Mullins added.
New vintage boutique brings Bay flavor to Eugene clothing scene
Daily Emerald
January 24, 2005
In addition to vintage clothing and accesories, the newly opened Smashin’ Fashion sells a variety of CDs and vinyl albums.
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